Rating: Minor Rock Fist Down Sequels are tough. Even if you’ve made a wildly successful first film. Even if you’ve had more than six movies to establish your continuity. Even if you have the deep pockets of a major studio like Disney. Even if you’ve got a director who’s incredibly good at writing ensembles. Sequels […]
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In the classic 1941 comedy Sullivan’s Travels, available now in a sterling new digital restoration on Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection, writer/director Preston Sturges stumps for the value of pure, unadulterated laughter in motion pictures.
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You can’t blame Laugh Killer Laugh for reaching hard to come across as a gritty crime film in the vein of numerous East Coast crime movies, because the film achieves a kind of off-kilter genuineness that only certain B-movies can achieve.
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Ex Machina does what excellent science fiction always does. It uses the tenets of the genre to pose difficult questions about our human existence.
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Most people can skip Roar, but if the confusing anomalies of cinema draw you in like a magnet, then you must see Noel Marshall’s cinematic madness on the big screen.
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Two new DVD releases from Music Box Films explore unusual communities. Happy Valley shows the collective denial of a community shaken by accusations of abuse against one of its most prominent members, while Antarctica: A Year on Ice romanticizes a group that chooses to live far from civilization.
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Ultimately True Story fails to create any real suspense, its only saving grace is the compelling nature of its source material.
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Despite being billed as being from “master of Filipino sleaze, Cirio Santiago,” the exploitation flick “The Muthers” is surprisingly good-natured.
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Furious 7 is exactly what you’d expect if you’ve seen any of the later entries in the franchise, watched any of the trailers, seen the poster with the parachuting car or heard Diesel’s claim about it winning Best Picture – genre ridiculousness with a couple of good stunts.
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With this new Criterion Blu-ray (and DVD) reissue, Ride the Pink Horse should take its place among the film noir genre as one of the greats.
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If you’re looking to get beyond Sergio Leone’s Man with No Name films and want to explore the world of Italian Western cinema, this is an excellent start. As part of Arrow’s first batch of releases here in the United States, they’ve managed to hit it right out of the park.
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Will a child enjoy this movie? Of course. It’s colorful, sweet and has plenty of moment’s that a child’s sense of humor will enjoy. The parents, on the other hand, may think to themselves they could’ve spent their time better.
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[Rating: Minor Rock Fist Down] At the midway point of Unfinished Business, I had realized where I had seen this movie before. A business owner and his team travel the country, to make sure a deal gets done. Along the way, there’s another company trying to sabotage their deal. Other hijinx ensue, including an accident with […]
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Mr. Turner covers 25 years of the contradictory painter’s life, and it often feels like it, moving at a languorous pace over its two-and-a-half hours. Like it’s subject, however, the film has an irascible charm.
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Whether Fellini Satyricon is a paean to excess or a reflective deconstruction of ancient myths and legends, one thing is for sure: It isn’t driven by a strong narrative or what one would consider effective acting, in any sense. Instead, its a series of stagey set pieces that happen to feature one of a couple main characters, loosely strung together by theme.
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